:):
Thank you for all of the awesome reviews! And for sticking with me all this time!
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I've been so focused on writing the new arc that I accidentally missed my update date!
i'm so sorry!
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Some of this chapter might seem familiar and I'll admit I drew heavy inspiration from NCHProductions.
There are quite a few notable differences, though, that make it unique from the original.
This is mostly due to the dark nature of The Bane.
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Flowey's Bane
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Lighting the way through the darkened, vine infested corridor, Frisk stuck close to Sans as they walked in silence. This long hallway, like always, seemed to go on forever. Though, maybe it only felt longer due to the fact that she wasn't running for her life this time. With the overabundance of The Bane literally everywhere around them, they were forced to take it slow.
Once they had finally reached the end of the long hallway, the two came upon an impassible area. Normally, this room housed a fairly impressive spike trap, but now... weighted down by all of the vines, the floor had actually broken apart and become partially submerged beneath the water.
Truthfully, Sans was a little relived by this. He had been a bit worried about how they would handle this room. Sure, when Frisk had drawn the map, she had spent a lot of time on this particular location carefully indicating the correct route through the spikes. He didn't really want to doubt her, but the possibility of either of them being accidentally impaled still gave him more than enough reason to be wary. Now, though, that would no longer be an issue because the entire trap had been permanently put out of commission.
Placing the Sunstone to her chest, Frisk was secretly relieved as well. She'd had more than her share of misfortune to memorize this trap by heart, but she had always been coming from the opposite direction. Even though she was fairly certain she knew the right way to go, the idea of going backwards still made her a tiny bit nervous.
Appearing at the other side of the room, neither of them were surprised when a plume of smoldering dust particles rained down from overhead. What was surprising, however, were the number of vines that had held back instead of mindlessly attacking. Staying just out of the light's reach, the blackened tendrils seemed to be gathering en masse behind them, effectively blocking the way back.
Feeling very much like they were now being herded towards something still unknown, Frisk brightened her Sunstone to give them a bit more breathing room. An unspoken finality lingered in the air between them as they proceeded deeper into the darkness. This was it. There was no turning back now. They were almost at the the end of their journey.
As the two exited through a high arched doorway, a damp earthy smelling draft blew up at them from the rocky cavern below. Looking down from the top of the high imperial style staircase, Sans came to the conclusion that this was probably where the Ruins actually started. Beyond this point, they would most likely be entering into a natural cave system.
Cautiously, and with an unexpected elegance, Frisk held out her mother's Sunstone and slowly descended down the left side of the double staircase. Keeping close, Sans followed after her as he kept careful watch for potential danger. An ominous, nearly sentient energy seemed to be lurking all around them now, almost like they were being watched from every direction. Creeping up the walls and hanging down from the ceiling, the vines were literally everywhere, their thorns gleaming eerily in the light.
Once they arrived at the bottom of the staircase, a loud metallic clanging sound rang out from the darkness ahead of them, and with it, an indecipherable undertone of a growl could be heard. Flinching at the threatening noise, Frisk stalled for a moment as she stared towards the cave's entrance. Whatever that was, it sounded really, really big. Feeling a hand rest lightly on her shoulder, the mute girl looked over to her friend, a worried expression on her face.
Narrowing his eye sockets, Sans glared into the darkness for a moment before his gaze was drawn to the frightened human. Not bothering to hide his concern behind a lazy smile, the skeleton remained serious as he quietly studied her face.
All along he had fully anticipated that he'd have to fight to get the kid's Soul back, and quite honestly, he didn't have a problem with that. After all, he had a major score to settle with that damn weed. What really concerned him, though, was that Frisk would undoubtedly be put in harms way. Unfortunately, this was completely unavoidable. There was simply no way he could get this done alone. He needed her just as much as she needed him right now. Like it or not, they were a package deal at this point.
Another part of him, however, a deeper part that he himself didn't quite understand, secretly feared how Frisk might react when she learned what he was truly capable of. Would she become afraid of him? The very thought was enough to make his nonexistent stomach turn a little. Still... Sans knew that there was no going back.
He had a promise to keep and he intended to keep it. Whatever it took, he was going to get the kid's Soul back.
"listen," Sans began as he held the mute girl's gaze. "no matter what happens, i want you to stay close to me, okay? i'm not gonna lie, things are probably gonna get real ugly once we're in there and you might not like some of the things you see. but, just know that whatever i do, i'm doing it because i want to save your little sister."
Shaking her head slightly, Frisk took a step closer to her friend as she placed her hand to her chest. *Please, do whatever it takes to save Fearia.* she implored silently, her expression now filled with determination. *"I'll keep you safe.*
Not expecting this type of response, Sans was quiet for a moment before a grin spread across his skull. "heh. hope you're ready for this, partner."
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Venturing into the darkened cave, the vines were literally pressing up against the barrier of light, forcing the monster and human to blindly navigate their way forward through the narrow tunnel. They proceeded like this for about 20 meters before the passageway finally opened up.
Once they had stepped out of the small cave artery, the vines that had been following them, amassed at the exit creating a solid thorny wall. Feeling very much like a door had been literally shut and locked behind them, the two peered into the inky blackness that saturated their new surroundings. If this were a game, then this would undoubtedly be the room where the final boss lurked.
Unconsciously inching a little closer to Sans, Frisk felt a chill run down her spine as she listened to the disturbing noises that were just out of sight. The sound was similar to something heavy and possibly metallic being slowly scraped across a stone surface. Hidden within the darkness, it was difficult to tell where exactly the noise was coming from. So focused on what she couldn't see, Frisk was slightly alarmed when a warm glow appeared in the distance. The closer they got to the light, however, the truth of what they were seeing became obvious.
It was just their reflections.
Approaching the massive slab of darkened glass, Sans and Frisk came to a stop as they stared silently at their shadowy clones. Despite everything that they had been through in this place, they were still relatively uninjured. For the most part. Hopefully it stayed that way.
Tilting his skull, Sans examined the large glassy surface. Was this a TV or something? If it was, then it put Alphys' observation monitor to shame. This thing was massive. What the hell was it doing down in the Ruins? A better question, though, was what was it being used for? What was such a sophisticated piece of equipment doing in a place like this? He had so many questions.
Catching movement from beside him, Sans watched as the human cautiously reached out and touched the glass with her fingers. heh, she most likely had even more questions than he did. Chances are they didn't have TV's back in her time period. She probably thought it was some kind of ginormous mirror or something.
Staring up at the ginormous mirror, Frisk was truly mystified. What was something like this doing down in the Ruins? Had this thing been here the whole time? Honestly, she couldn't remember ever seeing it before. Sliding her fingers over the cool surface, the mute girl was surprised to see a glowing trail of static following her movement. What was-
Releasing a silent gasp, Frisk quickly retracted her hand when the large slab of glass flickered with light.
Feeling the ground beneath their feet suddenly begin to shake, Sans felt his grin go flat as the massive screen lit up with static. Acting on impulse, the skeleton reached down and took hold of the human's hand before pulling her back. "uh... i think we should move." He said just as the left side of the rectangular monitor jutted harshly upwards at a tilt. "right now!"
Frisk couldn't agree more as her hazel eyes widened in fright. Closing her fingers around the skeletal hand, she and her friend quickly distanced themselves from the ginormous mirror just as thick black vines began to rise up from the cavern floor beneath it. Once they were far enough away, the two turned to see the large flickering slab of glass looming overhead supported solely by the vines.
In a sickening display, the blackened tendrils began to fuse together, creating a solid mass of inky tissue. Pushing its way from out of the newly formed trunk, a horrendous pair of horizontal jaws appeared. Its blunt teeth snapped closed a few times before slowly opening to reveal another set of jaws deep inside where its throat should have been. These teeth were much sharper.
Above the jaws, a set of flaring nostrils formed before two large eyeballs rolled up and out of the writhing mass to rest atop the newly formed head. As if that wasn't quite enough, another pair of eyeballs soon followed to sit above the first. Snaking their way out of the blackened tissue, multiple metallic looking coils wove around the eyeballs, securing them in place. Connecting to the jaws, the creature made a pained whine as the metal coils dug in forcefully causing an audible snap.
Bursting up from the cracked floor, two large thorny appendages appeared. Acting as arms, they braced the top heavy monstrosity, their crystalline claws digging deeply into the rocks below. From out of the creature's back, dozens of metal cables shot up towards the high cavern ceiling in order to try and support its ever increasing weight. Finally, a pair of thick black vines sprouted from behind the arms and extended to opposite sides of the room. Borrowing into the stone walls, they acted as braces.
Once stabilized, the creature's eyes all turned towards the two intruders as the large monitor that now sat atop its head began to flicker erratically. A sound of loud static filled the air before a face appeared on the screen. Smiling down at them with a wicked grin, the being's odd vertical eyes began to flash madly as loud booming laughter filled the large cavernous room.
Recognizing the obnoxious laughter right away, Sans felt his anger grow as his eye sockets narrowed a fraction. The tone was deeper and much more ominous than he remembered, but the voice was unmistakable. That thing was Flowey.
This was just freakin' great. The damn weed was more powerful than ever now and it didn't take a genius to know from where the power had come. That bastard. How dare he use the kid's Soul to make this grotesque amalgamation. Expression turning into a hateful scowl, the ever-present pain inside the skeleton's damaged skull increased to a dull throb as he unconsciously began to pool his magic into his left eye light.
Bringing one plant-like paw forward, the creature lowered itself. Coming closer, black liquid began to spill from the grinning mouth on the screen and leak out from the bottom of the monitor. Logic thoroughly defied, the thing that was once Flowey inhaled deeply through its flaring nostrils, hungrily taking in their scent.
Paling slightly, Frisk drew closer to her friend, partially hiding behind him. Right now, in the presence of this behemoth, she truly felt tiny. Tiny and vulnerable. Manipulating time was one thing, but she was by no means a fighter. If they were going to survive this, then she could only hope that Sans was.
"Human..." The creature spoke in a low, raspy whisper as it began to invade into their personal light. Even as it's inky skin began to sizzle and smoke, it was ultimately undeterred by the painful sting of the artificial sunlight.
Feeling the girl latch onto his jacket, Sans narrowed his eye sockets as he held a protective arm out in front of her. "not on your life, buddy." Sans growled as a volley of sharp looking bones appeared from overhead. "if you think you're gonna take her soul, then you're even dumber than you look."
Redirecting its gaze to the skeleton, the face on the screen sneered darkly. "Well, well, well... if it isn't Smiley the Trashbag..." Flowey acknowledged, his voice filled with undisguised contempt. "It's so nice to see you again... Now I can tear you apart, piece... by... piece..."
Grin turning sharp, Sans gave a lazy shrug. "funny, i was thinking the same thing." he replied as he quietly lifted his hand. "i know, how about i start with one of your eyes..?"
It had happened so fast, Flowey simply didn't have enough time to react. Reeling back from the pain, the monstrosity released a high pitched screech as it shook its massive head. From inside one of its bulbus eyes, a dozen or so bones, much resembling the quills of a porcupine were now deeply lodged. Flailing, the injured creature lashed out angrily.
Sensing the immediate danger, Sans hastily scooped up the terrified human and teleported them back just as a giant plant-like paw slammed down in the place where they had previously been standing. As bright as Frisk's Sunstone was, there was no way it could have repelled an attack like that; it was just too powerful. No doubt about it, they were in for a real fight this time.
Now back at a safe distance, Sans quickly summoned another volley and sent them flying towards the creature's other eye. Nobody said that this had to be a fair fight and he planned on taking every opportunity he could to thrash this damn weed. While most of the bones hit their target, some of them merely peppered the side of it's huge grotesque face.
Still holding onto the silent human, Sans gently maneuvered her weight so that she was now sitting lightly in the crook of his less dominant arm. "sorry, darlin', i know this is a little awkward, but i'm gonna need to keep you close just in case we have to teleport again."
Nodding in understanding, Frisk leaned her upper body against him and carefully wrapped an arm around his cervical spine to secure herself. She then brought the glowing rune close to her chest. Closing her eyes to block out the stressful situation, she placed all of her trust into her friend as she steadily channeled her magic into her mother's Sunstone. If this was really all she could do, then she was going to give it her all.
Giving Frisk a quick side-glance, Sans smiled a little as the light began to intensify. Subtly tightening his grip around her thighs, he adjusted his hold to make sure that she was as comfortable as possible. In all honesty, he was secretly relieved that she hadn't objected to being carried in this way. It would make things easier.
Even though she was deceptively light, Sans could still feel the weight of responsibility weigh heavily on him. Frisk was trusting him completely. Not only that, but she was also putting her very life in his hands. Quite literally. That was a big leap of faith and he'd be damned if he let that trust go to waste. Under no circumstance would he allow himself to fail her.
Turning his eye lights back to the enraged monster, Sans ignored the pain in his skull as he summoned five blasters into existence. They appeared in front of them like a floating barricade. Instantly understanding the situation on an instinctual level, their eye lights all locked onto the slowly recovering monstrosity.
Now partially blinded, Flowey scanned the area furiously for the loathsome skeleton. "Where are you?!" he demanded in a raspy hiss.
Shaking its grotesque head, the creature lifted a large paw in an attempt to scrape off some of the sharp bones that were still sticking out of its face like the thorns of a cactus. Inadvertently doing more harm than good, a pained howl erupted from out of its toothed throat as the crystalline claws dug deep into its inky flesh. Enraged by its own mistake, the ginormous amalgamation slammed its plant-like paw back to the ground before lifting its body into the air once more.
"You're going to pay for this..." Flowey vowed with deadly finality as he began to draw power from the countless Soul Gems he had greedily amassed. "I'm going to crush you... and everyone you love... into dust..."
The suffocating darkness of the room slowly dissipated as thousands of tiny multicolored lights began to glow from all corners of the large cavern. Embedded deep within the surrounding vines, the lights almost seemed alive as they crept up the walls and across the floor. It was both, strangely beautiful, and eerie at the same time.
Finally able to see the entirety of the room, Sans felt his grin go flat as he beheld just how massive this mutated weed had really become. His vines were literally everywhere, effectively trapping them. This cavern was like a metaphorical pit of vipers and the only place safe to stand was within Frisk's radius of artificial sunlight.
Even though their chances seemed extremely bleak, Sans was more determined now than ever. Recovering Fearia's Soul was still his main objective, but it was so much bigger than that now. If this thing got past him and made its way into the rest of the Underground, then everyone would be in danger. Papyrus would be in danger. Knowing this, he couldn't afford not to give it everything he had.
Even if it killed him, he had to put an end to this vile corrupted weed.
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Flowey isn't really feeling himself right now...
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In the next chapter, Sans discovers the true source of the nightmare.
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Sheii Bae~
